Ruby: Walnut St. Grill's closing, Waterfront optimistic

Jun. 30, 2012

Jeff Ruby stands outside the Walnut Street Grill after he informed employees that Saturday, June 30 would be the last evening for business for his restaurant that opened last year. / The Enquirer/Alexander Coolidge

Written by

and Polly Campbell

Jeff Ruby closed his year-old Walnut Street Grill for good on Saturday night, saying he plans to focus on his other restaurants.

The downtown eatery across from the Aronoff Center for the Arts opened in spring 2011 replacing Bootsy’s, another Ruby venture that struggled to turn a profit.

“Tonight’s the swan song,” he said Saturday.

Ruby has other restaurant projects in the works, including a Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse in downtown Lexington. He said he’s feeling pretty confident that he’ll reopen The Waterfront, the floating restaurant that closed in spring 2011 after breaking loose from its Covington moorings during Ohio River flooding. He’s also working on a new location in either West Chester or Springboro.

In addition, Ruby operates his namesake steakhouse half a block away as well as Carlo & Johnny steakhouse in Montgomery and the Precinct in Columbia Tusculum. He also operates Jeff Ruby Steakhouses at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa and Louisville.

“I’ve got too many horses in a stable that can’t hold them all,” Ruby said. “I have to focus on the ones that are winning races for us.”

Ruby said his interest in downtown dining was partly inspired by New York firefighters in 2004. A Queens fire captain had agreed to attend the National Firefighters Convention in Indianapolis only after his colleagues agreed to take him to the Precinct in Cincinnati, he said.

“They drove four hours out of their way for a steak,” Ruby recalled.

The fire captain gave Ruby a bracelet from around his wrist commemorating 9/11. Ruby, who has friends who narrowly escaped the terrorist attacks a decade ago, was moved by the gesture.

“I got chills – goosebumps all the way down to my toes,” he said. He still wears the bracelet.

Ruby broke the news of the Walnut Street Grill’s closing to his wait staff Saturday afternoon. He will offer restaurant workers positions at his other restaurants, including the new locations.